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The Pioneer Thursday, May 13, 2010 6

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Wild West: A collection of Western and Native American art is on display. Admission is free.Photos/Ashley Matzuszak

BY ASHLEY MATUSZAKStaff writer

ne of Hayward’s hid-den gems, the Sun

Gallery, features sculp-tures, drawings, paintings, photography and instilla-tions by local artists.

The Sun Gallery aims to support local artists, in-fluence art education and bring inspiring perspec-tives to the people of the East Bay.

“This place is here be-cause we support our lo-cal artists, and they need a place to show their work,” said Christine Bender, as-sistant director. “Everyone has to start somewhere,

and this is a great starting point.

Most exhibits at the Sun Gallery are up for one month; admission to view the gallery is free. The gal-lery is funded by grants from the city of Hayward, along with the fees artists are charged for displaying their work. Sun Gallery re-cently received their larg-est grant, $33,000, which Bender is very grateful for.

“We were in a precari-ous situation last year, and we almost were going to close,” said Bender.

One of the problems the Sun Gallery faces is its lo-cation. Tucked away on the

corner of Mission Boule-vard and E Street, it looks like a yellow house in pass-ing, hardly visible on the main roads. Along with the gallery itself, Bender says the importance of art in schools is something that is not being noticed.

Often seen as an unnec-essary part of academia, art education has taken a backseat in local public schools. Sun Gallery tries to reverse this by giving tours to both elementary and high schools. They also offer a free art class to all ages twice a month, where participants do a mixed media project for

two hours. “We encourage kids,

teens and their parents to come to our classes,” said Bender.

Perhaps their biggest art-outreach to the com-munity is their seven week summer camp for kids ages 6-13.

“One of our goals is: get art back in schools,” said Bender. “We can go to a school and teach a class, or they can come here. Children need art because it inspires them to be cre-ative, imaginative and it is beneficial to their overall development. It should be incorporated into their cur-

riculum.”There are three paid

employees at Sun Gallery, and the rest of the staff are volunteers. Local Hayward resident and volunteer Bil-ly Lopez, a Chabot College student, enjoys volunteer-ing at the gallery, and no-tices the importance of art education.

“The kids really take to the art when they see it,” said Lopez. “I love watch-ing their faces when they see the gallery.”

The Sun Gallery’s cur-rent exhibit, the Wild, Wild West II, is a collection of Western and Native Ameri-can art, all done by local

artists. The timing of the collection was due in part to the Rowell Ranch Ro-deo in Castro Valley, which takes place this month. Featuring works with Na-tive American, old West and even Asian influence, this current exhibit offers multiple perspectives into American History.

Sun Gallery’s next ex-hibit, “High Art,” will feature artwork done by students from local high schools, as well as some home-schooled ones. This is an important exhibit to Bender, as she feels it will inspire local kids to create art of their own.

The art displayed at Sun

Sun Gallery in Hayward Holds Wild West Exhibit

DEANDRE WOODStaff Writer

orthern California Music producers are

beginning to attract na-tional attention.

While many people may be under the impression that Bay Area hip-hop art-ists do not have a main-stream following, but San Francisco-born writer/singer/rapper/producer Rawsmoov is trying to change that perception.

Rawsmoov has worked with artists such E-40, Tri-na, Rick Ross, Dj Khaled, Clyde Carson, Kafani, Slim of 112, Cassidy, Slick Pulla of USDA, Glasses Malone and Q-Wote.

Rawsmoov was recently featured on New Orleans superstar Juvenile’s latest album, appearing on two songs, “I’m a Good Tip-per” and “New Orleans Stunna.”

Another Bay Area pro-ducer, Zaytoven, has the city of Atlanta on fire.

Many people may have already heard some of his

music.He was born Xavier Dot-

son and is always in the light, especially since he was responsible for Atlanta based rapper Gucci Mane’s success with his first single called “Icy.”

Since working with Gu-cci mane, he has now pro-duced records for artist such as Plies, Usher, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Soulja boy, and many more.

He started grinding out in San Francisco working with the local artist until his family moved to Atlan-ta in the early years of the new millennium.

Dotson has a musical background that includes piano, guitar and organ.

That’s how he got the name Zaytoven because he was a really good piano player and people in his circle referred to it from Beethoven.

Dotson is currently work-ing on an albums which feature some of today’s fa-vorite musical artists.

The Life of a Producer

Pictured: Zaytoven Photo/Deandre Wood

BY SAÚL GALDAMEZ GONZALEZA&E Editor

he Cal State East Bay theater and dance de-

partment premiered their latest show titled “Way-ward” to a sold out crowd on May 7 in and around the University Theater. Directed by Cal State East Bay dance professors Nina Haft and Eric Kupers, “Wayward” is out of the ordinary yet delightful. The show is best described as “dance theater”.

“I thought the show was very creative,” said Pleas-anton resident Ann Por-ter. “I didn’t know what to expect at first but I was amazed by the show.”

Spectators who arrived early were treated to a pre-show performance outside the theater lobby.

The piece, was ti-tled “Over the river and through the woods…” and was a site-specific dance.

“It had a lot of beauti-ful movement,” said V.J. Moon, a resident of the Hayward hills. “It was some gorgeous dancing.”

As soon as dance ensem-ble members finished their pre-performance, it was time for act one.

Haft choreographed the first act, “Big Red,” which is made up of three differ-ent dance pieces and is a modern re-telling of the fairytale “Little Red Riding Hood.” Haft focused more on the idea of the story than acting it out.

“Big Red” started in front of the theater.

Throughout the first

act, the audience was led to view dance pieces in the theater’s lobby, green room, with act one ending on the theater’s stage.

After a short intermis-sion, Kupers act titled “Dan Plonsey Prepares” kept au-diences in high spirits.

The piece is a work in progress commissioned by the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.

“Dan Plonsey Prepares” was a theatrical piece that contained elements of dance in its story. It is about a young man who is preparing for his Bar Mitz-vah and the outrageous

guests in attendance. “It was a surprise for

me,” said Moon. “I think there was a lot of tension in it and a lot of scenarios that they were playing with.”

Moon describes some of the scenarios, as slightly outrageous and that it seemed as if the content in the performance tried to push people’s buttons.

“They played with a lot of things that might irritate a lot of different people,” said Moon. “They also played with a lot of sexual-ity.”

The show contains non-sexual nudity and kissing.

“The show is completely zany, strange, unexpected but wonderful,” said Mela-nie Sutrathada, an actress in the show and CSUEB student. “It’s definitely something you want to come see.”

Cal State East Bay will be putting on three more showings of “Wayward” on the weekend of May 14.

The Friday and Saturday showings are at 8 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday.

Tickets for the show may be reserved at http://class.csueastbay.edu/theatre/Ticket_Reservations.php.

Photo/Londre Holmes

Wayward Dance Recital a Crowd Pleaser